Adjustable holder for cigarette packs



y 2, 1949. H. A. HUSTED 2,475,96

ADJUSTABLE HOLDER FOR CIGARETTE PACKS Filed June 19, 1945 INVEN TOR.

Patented July 12, 1949 ADJUSTABLE HOLDER FOR CIGARETTE PACKS Harry A. Husted, St. Clair, Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Rogers Imports Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 19, 1945, Serial No. 600,271

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement upon the device disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 511,306, filed November 22, 1943, now patented as Patent No. 2,378,774.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a cigarette case adapted to contain and protect an open pack of cigarettes, and to give access to such pack only when desired.

It is a further object of this invention to produce a cigarette case as above described, in which, by a simple substitution of the least expensive portion, the case may be adapted to contain either the so-called regular size or the so-called king size of cigarette.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved cigarette case;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the case illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, showing the closure plate in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating the closure plate in open position;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a section illustrating the substitution element by which the case is adapted to holding cigarettes longer than the so-called regular size.

In Fig. 1 the completed case is indicated generally by the reference numeral I0, and comprises an upper body portion I 2 and a lower body portion I4. The upper body portion I2 has a front wall I6, a rear wall It], a side wall and another side wall 22. These four walls are joined by a top wall 24, at one end of which, adjacent the end wall 20, is formed a cigarette dispensing opening 26. A closure plate 28 has a handle portion 36 passing through a slot 32 in the upper wall 24 of the portion I2. The sides 34 of the handle portion are preferably beveled and dimensioned so that the handle portion 30 may be snapped through the slot 32 by a camming action similar to that described in my aforesaid copending application. The under portions 36 of the handle 30 bear on the upper edges of the slot 32, and thereby secure and guide the plate 28 in its sliding movement from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4.

At one end of the plate 28 there is formed a raised portion 38 dimensioned to fit within the cigarette dispensing opening 26 in the top wall 24 of the member I2. The edge 32' of the slot 32 adjacent the cigarette dispensing opening 26 is curved to provide a camming surface adapted to cooperate with a similarly curved engaging surface 46 in the base of the handle member 30. When the parts are brought to the position shown in Fig. 3, the curved surface 40 engages the curved surface 32, and thereby tends to lift the raised portion 38 on the plate 28 into extremely tight engagement with the margins of the cigarette dispensing opening 26. When the parts are withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 4, the raised portion 38 is cammed somewhat downwardly to set up a binding action between the rear portion 28' of the plate 28, and the undersurfaces 36 of the handleportion 30, thus retaining the plate in open position without danger of accidental dislodgment.

It will be noted that the margins of the raised portions 38 are beveled, and that a mating bevel is provided in the margins of the cigarette disblocked by engagement of raised portion 38 with the cigarette dispensing opening 26.

According to the illustrations in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the handle portion 30 is integrally molded with plastic material as a part of the plate 28. This is a matter of convenience, since it is entirely possible to form the handle portion 30 separate from the plate 28, and to join the two by riveting, adhesion, or by coating the engaging parts with a mutual solvent, whereby a joint substantially in the nature of a weld is obtained.

The walls I6, I8, 20 and 22 are thinned adjacent the free edges. as indicated at 20 and 22' in Fig. 3, to provide an external shoulder 42 running entirely around the upper portion I2. The walls I6, I8 and 22 are cut away within the thinned portion to provide a thumb notch 45, which assists in the removal and insertion of cigarette packages within the case. The lower cap member I4 has vertical walls equal in thickness to the widths of the shoulder 42, and which telescope upon the thinned portions of the vertical walls of the upper portion [2. Protuberances 44 are molded into the inner surfaces of the vertical Walls of the member I 4, and corresponding depressions 46 are molded into one or more of the thinned portions of the vertical walls of the upper portion I2. The projections 44 interlock with the depressions 46 to prevent accidental separation of the parts I 2 and I4. Since there is no complete penetration of the walls of either portion, the closure is exceptionally tight against the ingress of contamination.

All of the walls of the upper portion I2, being molded of plastic material, are impervious. A particular advantage of the container illustrated herein lies in the fact that loading is accomplished from the bottom of the upper portion 12, with the cigarette dispensing opening 28 open at the option of the user. There is, accordingly, no tendency of the pack, during its insertion into the upper portion l2, to encounter resistance due to the compression of air be-- tween the top of the pack and the top wall 24 of the upper portion l2. considerably less opportunity for compression occurs during the application of the lower member M (or, as hereinafter described, [4) so that here compression, as a factor of convenience, is wholly eliminated by the present construction. At the same time, the engagement between the upper portion l2 and the lower portion M or [4, taken in conjunction with the almost hermetic seal of the raised portion 38 against the margins of the cigarette dispensing opening 26, renders the package not only entirely sift and dust proof, but, for all practical purposes, impervious to the penetration, in either direction, of moisture vapor, or even of gases, in the absenceof a pressure differential between the interior and exterior of the package. Certainly, during any reasonable immersion in water, not tooprolonged, there will be no perceptible leakage, while the chance of attaining a differential of atmospheric internal and external pressure, inv a direction which would convey contamination to the interior of the package, is remote in the extreme.

In Fig. 6 I show a substitute lower body portion [4, of which the vertical walls have a depth sufficiently greater than that of the portion l4, to compensate for the difference in length between regular and king size cigarettes. Protuberances 44' are provided for engagement with the depressions 46 of the upper body portion 12. The shoulder 42 of the upper body portion l2 provides a datum line which assures at all times proper clearance and internal dimensions, whichever of the lower members may be in use. It is to be noted that the upper portion [2 represents a great deal more than half of the total cost of the unit, alternative members l4 and I4 being produceable at minimum. cost. It is therefore possible, through the use of this invention, to provide substantially a single cigarette case, easily adaptable to holding either of the two popular sizes of cigarettes.

While certain specific proportions and arrangements have been illustrated herein, this invention is not to be considered as limited to the precise details disclosed, but only as set forth in the subjoined claims which are to be broadly construed.

Iclaim:

I. In a cigarette case, a body portion having front and rear walls, side walls and an upper face integral with said walls, said upper face having a. cigarette dispensing opening, a plate adapted to cover said opening and mounted to slide in contact with said upper face, a member attached to said plate and protruding through a slot in said upper face, the portion of said member lying on the side of said upper face opposite said plate being larger than said slot to hold the plate in contact with said upper face, said plate having a raised portion positioned on said plate to register with, enter and engage the margins of, said cigarette dispensing opening when said plate is moved to cover said opening.

2. In a cigarette case, a body portion having front and rear walls, side walls and an upper face integral. with said walls, said upper face having a cigarette dispensing opening, a plate adapted to cover said opening and mounted to slide in contact with said upper face, a member attached to said plate and protruding through a slot in said upper face, the portion of said member lying on the side of said upper face opposite said plate being, larger than said slot to hold the plate in contact with said upper face, said plate having a thickened portion adapted to enter said cigarette dispensing opening and engage the margins thereof, and interengaging means acting to cam said thickened portion into said cigarette dispensing opening.

3. In a cigarette case, a body portion having front and rear walls, side walls and an upper face integral with said walls, said upper face having a cigarette dispensing opening, a plate adapted to cover said opening and mounted to slide in contact with said upper face, a member attached to said plate and protruding through a slot in said upper face, the portion of said member lying on the side of said upper face opposite said plate being larger than. said slot to hold the plate in contact with said upper face, said plate having a thickened portion adapted to enter said cigarette dispensing opening and engage the margins thereof, and means formed on said member to engage a wall of said slot to cam said thickened portion into said cigarette dispensing opening.

4. The cigarette case of claim 1 wherein said raised portion is provided with beveled edges and said margins of said dispensing opening are correspondingly beveled to provide a more effective seal.

HARRY A. HUSTED.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 29,625 Seiberling Aug. 14, 1860 579,560 C'aillet Aug. 30, 1897 I',I32,925 Gillette Mar. 23, 1915 1,313,679 Estes Aug. 19, 1919 1,445,068 Brown Feb. 13, 1923 1,770,920 Hermani July 22, 1930 1,815,069 Petro July 21, 1931 1,934,138 Paul et a1. Nov. 7, 1933 $315,900 Lupfer Apr. 6, 1943 2,338,192 Martin Jan. 4, 1944 2,378,774 Husted June 19, 1945 

